THE ADVOCATE
Thursday 9th September 1948
Penshurst Parish to Receive £10,000 -
Grazier's Bequest
Mr. James Howard, grazier, of Penshurst, who died at Warrnambool on June 26, bequeathed £10,000 for the erection, of a new convent or school, for the parish of Penshurst, it was revealed last week. He left estate in Victoria sworn for probate at £25,170, comprising £5322 and £19,848 personally. Other legacies include £1000 to Margaret Conway provided she was in the employment of Mr. Howard at the time, of his death, and £200 each to the Warrnambool Base Hospital and the trustees of St John of God Hospital, Warrnambool. The remainder of the estate goes to Ballarat diocese for the advancement of the Catholic religion.
Penshurst parish dates from 1907 when Rev. J. J. Walsh, from Mildura, was appointed. He remained only two years and was succeeded by Rev. J. Murphy, who was parish priest for15 years. Other pastors have been Revs. J. Manning and J. Hyland with Rev. M. Glennen at present in charge. At the time of the erection of the parish the district had been served from Hamilton. It possessed a handsome bluestone Gothic church dedicated to St. Joseph, commenced in 1866, on a site donated by Mr. J. Twoomey (sic), one of the original trustees with Messrs Terence O'Brien and John Cameron. The gift replaced a government grant of five years previous found unsuitable for church purposes.
Early in 1874, when the first school was opened, the church boasted of an altar imported from Belgium, the gift of Miss Twoomey (sic), and the seating had also been donated by the same family. The church at the time was 37 feet long and included a temporary chancel and sacristy attached. The district's progress, in its early years, was both slow and uninteresting, and it was not until the proposed railway line in l887 that any noticeable change was noted. Then land values rose sharply. The Catholic influx into the town also showed a marked increase. The little school, under the superintendence of Miss Collier, also had increased attendances. Ten years later, to meet the needs of the parishioners, the church was enlarged. On November 28, 1897, when blessed by Bishop Mears of Ballarat, the new additions, designed by F. Hammond for 1000, consisted of a 40-ft. extension to the old building, with transepts, extending 18 feet on each side of the nave. The church was then three times as large as before. The west-end also included a wooden-panelled reredos, finished with ornamental crestings and formed a sacristy 22 feet by 12 feet 6 inches. The Bishop, in his address termed it.". . . One of the most handsome and most commodious in the diocese." He also alluded to the fact that the school attached had, the previous year, secured the highest percentage average in the diocese. When the parish was formed, Fr. Walsh secured a house in Watton Street, and this served as a presbytery until a new one was blessed and opened by Bishop Foley in June, 1926. In 1925, a queen carnival netted over £600 to liquidate the, parish debt. In 1932, the old school was remodelled in accordance with the Board of Health regulations for £150. Only other church in the parish is St. Joseph's, at Hawkesdale. Firsts building there was commenced in 1867, when it formed part of the Port Fairy mission. When Koroit was made a parish it was attached to it, but in 1917 was transferred to the charge of Penshurst. The present structure at Hawkesdale, completed in 1913, replaced the old building and was completed for £600.
